Which time is the charm?
by allmylovesatonce
Summary: He shouldn't be surprised by the turn of events tonight. Nothing ever works out for him the first time around.


"Hey Jeremy, I'm on call Friday night. Think you could switch with me?" Danny asked, walking into Jeremy's office.

Jeremy replied almost absentmindedly, "Sorry chap, I have plans Friday night. Why don't you switch with Mindy?" Danny stared at him for a few seconds waiting for Jeremy to realize why his response was stupid. When nothing seemed to be coming he replied, "Oh I don't know, because I thought I would spend that night with her. Kind of negates that if I ask her to take over call for me don't you think?" Jeremy popped his head up and eyed Danny. "Right, that makes sense. Ask Peter. I'm not doing it. I've covered your last few Friday nights. I thought it was going to be a fun dynamic when you and Mindy started dating. I thought she'd be more on time and you'd be less grumpy. I thought you'd both be professionals and not try to get out of every bloody call shift just because you were dating someone. But apparently I was wrong."

Danny hesitated before replying. "Well at least Mindy is more punctual…"

Jeremy glared at him in return.

"Fine. I'll ask Peter." And with that he turned and walked toward Peter's office.

"Pete. Big favor. Cover for me on Friday?" Danny asked just simply getting to the point.

"Hard pass, Danny," Peter replied without even looking up from his file.

"Please! Look I asked Jeremy first as per your request when Mindy and I started dating. He won't take it and I can't ask Mindy because my plans obviously include her. Will you _please_ cover for me?"

"What are your plans?"

"Just, uh, dinner," Danny replied, hoping he sounded casual.

"Just have dinner on Saturday night. Boom, problem solved."

"I already made reservations for Friday night forgetting that I was on call. Pete, please. Can you help me out this once?" Danny pleaded with him.

Peter looked him over. He took in Danny's creased brow and the desperate look on his face. He noted the slight sheen of sweat that seemed to be appearing on that creased brow. He looked almost panicked. There had to be something bigger than just dinner going on. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Oh my God. You're doing it aren't you? You're finally doing it!" Peter exclaimed.

"Doing what?" Danny asked confusedly.

"You're finally going to propose to Mindy!"

Danny hurriedly closed the door to his office and sat down at a chair in front of him. He waved his hands and started shushing Peter. Peter looked back at him excitedly. "Oh my God, I was right! I figured it was that or you were going to break up with her. Glad it was this one."

"What? Why would I break up with Mindy? You know what? Never mind. Listen, Peter, I need you to keep this to yourself, okay? No one knows. And I technically never confirmed anything. Just keep it to yourself until after Friday. Think you can do that for me?"

Peter looked pained. His eyes narrowed and his mouth was in a tight line. He looked like he was doing something he really didn't want to do. "Fine. I'll keep it to myself."

"And you'll cover for me on Friday?"

"Fine," Peter supplied, then quickly adding, "But your first son better be named after me."

Danny just laughed as he clapped Peter on the shoulder before exiting his office.

When Danny got back to his office he sat down and sighed. He still had a lot to plan before he actually proposed to Mindy. He thought back on the moment he just realized he had to do it. He had been leaving the hospital after a particularly rough delivery. The mother had had complications almost costing her hers and the baby's lives. Luckily, it hadn't been the case. But Danny couldn't lie that it had shaken him. He thought about what he usually turned to after a day like that one. Usually it was bourbon and silence. As he changed out of his scrubs and got ready to leave, he realized that those two things just wouldn't do the trick anymore. He remembered that it had been awhile since he had turned to them after bad days. For months now, it had been Mindy. He texted Mindy to ask her where she was. She had simply replied "Home." Danny set off in the direction of her apartment. He let himself in and the place was dark. He picked up the phone and called her this time.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I thought you said you were at home."

"I am."

"No you aren't. I'm standing in your apartment and it's dark."

Mindy chuckled for a second and then said, "I figured you would know. I meant your home."

Danny sighed, "Right. I'll be there soon."

"Oh, hey, before you go, how was your delivery?"

Danny paused for a moment, replaying it in his head. She knew that silence.

"Just come home. I'll have whatever you need waiting for you when you get here."

Danny thought for a moment about the only thing he really needed. "You." He thought he could hear her smile through the phone.

"Well I'll be here. Just come home."

The entire trip from her apartment to his, he just kept thinking of how she called his place home. Could she know that she was just that for him? Mindy was his home. If he really thought about it, she had become that from the moment he found her at the Empire State Building, from the moment she had let him back into her life.

When Danny had gotten home that night, she just wrapped him in her arms and they sat wordlessly on the couch for a long time. He knew what a feat that can sometimes be for Mindy. But she knew that silence was best for this. Mindy rubbed his back and ran her fingers through his hair soothingly. She just wanted to do everything she could to comfort him. He could tell. She apparently didn't know that her presence alone had the ability to comfort him better than anything else these days.

Danny woke up in the middle of the night with his head in her lap. They were both still on the couch. He looked at her and for probably the millionth time in their relationship thought about how lucky he was to be hers. She had chosen him. She had come back for him. She had done all this and he was never deserving of it. He didn't know if he would ever stop marveling over the fact that this beautiful, smart, amazing woman had chosen him, the damaged, closed off, jerk of a man. He thought about his life before her and knew that no matter how much the prospect of marriage might still scare him, the prospect of his life without her scared him more. The next day when she got called to the hospital, he went to the jewelry store and bought the ring.

It was the same ring that he now pulled out of his desk to examine for the hundredth time. Would she like it? Would she demand a bigger one? Danny had pictured her reaction every time he had looked at the ring. He decided to keep it at work because she was a lot less nosy here than she was at home. He was caught up staring at it when he heard a knock at his door. Danny quickly shut the box and stowed it as Mindy walked in.

"Hey Babe!"

"Uh, hey Min," Danny replied nervously, hoping he hadn't gotten caught. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to come give you a little sugar," she replied as she walked around the desk and kissed him soundly on the lips.

"Oh also, did you find someone to cover for you on Friday or do I need to make other plans?" Mindy asked as she pulled back.

"You would ditch me at the hospital and make other plans because I got stuck on call? You could come spend time with me. But you would just as quickly forget our romantic evening to go hangout with your friends? I see," Danny said, unsure as to why he was laying it on so thick.

"Pretty much. I hate being stuck at the hospital as much as you do," Mindy replied, adding, "Though I guess if you looked depressed enough, I might come bring you food."

"How sweet of you. No worries though, Pete is covering for me."

"Oh great! I'm really excited about Friday. It's been so long since we did anything like this. It's usually just boring nights in our sweats flipping channels between what I want to watch and what you want to watch. I'm gonna go thank Pete."

"Umm I think he has a patient. And he was, uh, kind of bitter about it. Maybe don't bring it up."

Mindy looked back at him thoughtfully before speaking. "Hmmm. Okay. I can totally see that. He's such a baby sometimes." She kissed Danny again quickly before leaving his office. He breathed a sigh of relief, hoping he had covered his tracks well enough. He wanted Mindy to actually be surprised by his proposal.

Friday came and Danny had one patient left before he was supposed to leave. His patient had begged for a late appointment because she had been in meetings all day. Danny agreed, though begrudgingly, and brought his suit to work to just change there. Mindy had left earlier to make sure she allotted herself the right amount of primping before she met Danny back at work.

Danny came out of his office dressed in his suit, waiting for Mindy to arrive. Peter and Jeremy whistled at him when he stepped toward them. He gave them a look to calm them down.

"Pete, shouldn't you be at the hospital? And Jeremy, I thought you had plans?"

"They aren't till later. And also, if you had just told me you were preparing to propose to Mindy, I would have been more likely to take your call shift for you, mate."

Danny quickly looked around to make sure Mindy was nowhere around. Then he turned and glared at Peter. "I told you to keep it to yourself! What happened to that?"

"I'm sorry. We were sharing office gossip and it just slipped out. I couldn't help it, man. You get it. Well you probably don't get it. But Mindy totally would."

"That's right, she would," Jeremy chimed in.

"Whatever. You still shouldn't have said anything," Danny chided.

"Just go have a good time tonight. I'm sure by the time you see me next, you won't even care."

"Won't care about what?" Mindy asked as she strode in the room. Danny turned around and looked at her. He felt gobsmacked by the sight before him. She looked positively stunning. Not that it surprised him. He always thought she looked beautiful. There was something about her tonight though. Maybe it was her dress that was a beautiful shade of emerald and hugged her in all the right places. Maybe it was her hair, falling down past her shoulders in long flowing waves. Maybe it was the radiant smile that wouldn't leave her face. The same smile he was sure he was mirroring right now. He shook himself out of his daze and walked toward her. He kissed her gently. He knew she wouldn't want to mess up her make up. He grabbed her hand, said goodbye to the others, and headed toward the elevator, suddenly more excited than nervous for the rest of the night.

They had ordered and were conversing easily. Everything seemed to be going so well. Danny had it all planned out. He figured Mindy had her suspicions. He was going to wait till after their entrees and then order dessert. He knew she would think the ring was in the cake. He was going to wait till after he paid the check, to make it seem like this night was just a date. But then before they left, he was going to do it. He was going to drop down on one knee and ask Mindy Lahiri to be his forever.

The place was crowded. It was a really fancy restaurant. Danny was a bit nervous about doing this in front of such a big crowd, but he didn't care. He loved Mindy and he knew she loved him. That was all he needed to get him through this meal. It was the same thought that helped him try to consciously stop sweating. If he sweat too much, she'd be on to something.

It was the end of the meal. Danny had paid the check. He took her hand in his from across the table. She looked first at their hands and then up at him with a big smile on her face. Danny started to speak.

"Mindy, do you know how much I love you? Do you know how happy you make me?" He started. He was looking just at her and didn't see the stumbling waiter coming up behind her. The waiter that was carrying a Baked Alaska, something he should be extremely careful carrying. Danny didn't notice him until the flaming dessert was toppling off the tray and onto Mindy's arm. Danny sprang up to put out the flames. By the time they got it out and got her cleaned up, her arm looked red and her dress was a little singed. Danny immediately gathered her up and told her he was going to take her to the hospital. The manager caught them before they were leaving and told them he would reimburse them for their meal. Danny nodded curtly and took off with his arm around Mindy.

They sat in the hospital with the doctor treating Mindy's burns. Luckily they weren't that bad. Before they left, Mindy wanted to go find Peter and tell him the crazy story. Danny tried to convince her that they should just go home, but she couldn't be swayed. When she got held up finishing some paperwork, he ran ahead of her so Peter couldn't spoil anything. He ran into the lounge and found Peter stuffing his face with chips. Peter looked up, surprised. "Buddy! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home banging your fiancée?"

"Pete –"

"I'm sorry. 'Making love,'" he said, using air quotes.

"Wasn't actually what I was going to tell you. We aren't engaged. She's coming up to tell you a crazy story and you can't say _anything_ that would allude to the fact that I was going to propose. Okay? Think you can do that?"

"What happened? Did you chicken out?"

"No I didn't chicken out!"

"That's exactly what someone who chickened out would say."

"You're the worst," Danny said, hoping to end the conversation before Mindy found them.

Eventually she wound around the corner showing off her thoroughly bandaged arm. She sat down on the couch and told him all about the flaming dessert crashing onto her. As she sat there, Danny racked his brains for a new way to propose to Mindy and how fast he could throw it together. He really shouldn't be surprised by the turn of events tonight. Nothing ever works out for him the first time around.

"Look at this! It's a bright sunny day, we're in Central Park having this beautiful picnic, you've yet to go on a rant about anything, even littering. I'm going to probably jinx it, but Danny, I think this might be the perfect afternoon!"

"Why would you say that? That's definitely gonna jinx it!"

"I don't think so, Danny. This is gorgeous. And on top of it all, you planned a picnic. That's the real shocker. One time I asked you if we should have a company picnic and you said quote "I didn't get a medical degree to eat food off the ground." This is impressive, Castellano."

"Well it _is_ a pretty day. Why waste it, right?"

Danny looked around the park. The sun was shining high in the sky, everything was in bloom, Mindy, as per usual, was wearing a very bright ensemble, and he could even hear birds chirping as they flew by them. Danny was suspicious that this day seemed almost too perfect. He figured he better not screw this up. This was his perfect opportunity to propose. He looked up at Mindy. He could never get over how beautiful she was and how much he loved her. As he was staring at her, he noticed her gently rub her arm. Suddenly he was concerned.

"How's your arm? Does it still hurt?"

Mindy poked at it a little before looking up at him and saying, "No, not really. It's not too bad. I mean it still stings a little, but no big deal. It could have been worse right? I think I'm more upset about my dress getting singed than my arm getting burned. I spent so much money on that dress. My arm kinda was a package deal."

Danny shook his head in disbelief. This woman could truly be insane. Her arm was still bandaged and sore from being burned by a flaming dessert and she was more upset about clothing. Somehow they still fit together pretty well. That might always be a mystery to him though. When he finally pulled himself out of his thoughts, he looked back at her and she was smiling at him. He grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. Danny could almost feel the ring in his pocket getting heavier every moment that he delayed proposing. He released her hand and situated himself in less of a sitting position. Danny opened his mouth to say her name and he heard it being said by someone else's voice.

"Mindy?"

Mindy snapped her head away from Danny and turned to the man saying her name.

"Casey? What are you doing in New York?"

Danny groaned upon seeing Mindy's giant ex-fiance. Mindy jumped up to greet him with Danny following suit.

"Well Dope Feet is doing pretty great out on the West Coast so I'm here in New York to see if we can make it national," Casey explained, while Danny fought the urge to groan again.

"Oh wow, that's neat. So what? You're moving back to New York?" Mindy asked. Suddenly Danny started panicking, not listening to their conversation. What if he was just second best because the Preacher moved on? He thought they were on the same page but maybe they weren't. Maybe they weren't even in the same book.

"So what are you two doing? Having a company lunch in the park? I do that sometimes on the beach. It's pretty dope."

"Umm no actually. This wasn't business really at all," Mindy said, turning her head to look at Danny who was still trying his best at staring down the giant.

"Oh. Wow. I, uh, I didn't realize."

"Yep. Danny and I are together," Mindy replied as she reached out and put her arm through one of Danny's.

"I thought the last time I saw you, you were practically moving in with some lawyer guy?"

"Oh right. Cliff. Yeah that ended pretty quickly after we got back from L.A."

"Hmmm. So Danny," Casey started, "You're trying to steal my girl here?"

Danny opened his mouth to argue with him but Mindy beat him to the punch. "Whoa there! I haven't been your "girl" in over a year. We had an amicable break up Casey, I mean yeah it sucked, but we parted on good terms. I thought you would want me to be happy. Not to be hung up on you. I always wanted you to find your professional happiness since that's what led to our breakup. Wouldn't you want me to be just as happy as you are?"

"Mindy, I didn't mean – I was just kidding," Casey stuttered to explain.

"Well that's stupid. Don't blame Danny for jumping on what you couldn't hold on to."

Danny, if possible, was growing even more uncomfortable with this conversation. It looked like Casey might be as well. Casey broke eye contact with Mindy and dropped his head.

"Well I just hope he's ready to give you everything you want in life. Marriage, babies, all that."

"As a matter of fact, yes. Yep. Marriage, babies, all that. We talk about it constantly," Mindy said, growing more unsure with every word she said. Danny could tell that she was replaying every time they'd talked about marriage and babies. It had all been hypothetical. They had never had a real conversation about it. Granted she didn't know that a ring meant for her was in the pocket her hand was next to.

"Good. Listen, awkwardness aside, it was good to run into you guys! Maybe I'll see you around sometime. I'm going to be in New York for a while. If it's okay with Danny, I'd love to catch up with you, Mindy," Casey said, looking between the two of them.

"Yeah we'll see," Mindy offered.

With that Casey strolled off behind them. Mindy sat back down at their picnic sight with a heavy sigh.

"Okay. As much as it pains me to admit when you're right, you were right. I jinxed our beautiful afternoon. Is it just me or is running into exes literally the worst thing ever?"

Danny sighed, thinking of how much had really been ruined. He knew he couldn't propose to Mindy now. Not with the shadow of her ex-fiance looming over them. "Yeah. It really is the worst."

Danny carefully pulled out his phone to text Jeremy and Peter.

**Didn't happen. Don't ask. **

He sat back down and they carried on with their picnic. Within minutes he had a text from Peter.

**Dude! Stop chickening out! Man up already!**

Danny decided to ignore him. Then a text came from Jeremy.

**DANNY NOOOOO! **

**Please calm down, Jeremy. I'll explain later. **

"Danny, I don't think I've ever seen you use your phone so much. Who are you texting?"

Danny fumbled with his phone and stashed it back away in his pocket.

"It's nothing. Don't worry."

"Mmhmm. Okay. Weirdo."

Danny looked around again. Suddenly the bright sunny day wasn't as exciting. The day wasn't full of possibility anymore. He looked at Mindy and she didn't look as unabashedly happy as she had before. Suddenly he couldn't wait to wrap up this picnic. "Hey. What do you say we ditch this stuff and we go to that one frozen yogurt place you like? This was mostly healthy stuff you wouldn't like anyway."

"I'd like that," Mindy said with a smile.

They packed up the picnic and started to leave. Mindy wove her hand into Danny's and started swinging it happily. "Actually babe, we can't go to that one frozen yogurt place I like. But there is that new one a few blocks past it that we could try. Freaking sample fraud."

Danny just smiled and grasped her hand tighter in his. As they strolled through the city they both loved and laughed over stupid things their friends said at work, he realized that he couldn't have been more wrong earlier. Of course they were on the same page. Danny just needed to, _once again_, find the perfect way to propose. Maybe the third time would be the charm.

"Danny, welcome! Come in, sit down, and get ready for a life saver. Also, you are more than welcome to the bowl of gummy lifesavers on Jeremy's desk."

Danny was standing in the doorway of Jeremy's office as Peter and Jeremy tried to usher him in for what looked like a poorly planned intervention. Well, not as poorly planned as the time Mindy thought he was a drug addict. Though he thought he might need some wine to get through this one. Nevertheless, Danny followed their orders and sat down in Jeremy's chair. The other two sat in the patient chairs and sighed deeply.

"Okay just cut to it. What is this?" Danny said, hopefully ending their awkwardly long stares at him.

"Danny, Danny, Danny," Jeremy began, "We're worried about you."

"Jeremy is right. We're worried about you, Danny."

"Okay…great. Why?" Danny implored.

"Why?" Jeremy exclaimed, "Gee I don't know. Because it's been weeks since your last attempt to propose to Mindy and you haven't done it. You seem more closed off than usual and lately have been a great pain in our collective arse."

"And in case you didn't know, when Jeremy says arse, he means ass," Peter supplied.

"Yeah I got that, Pete. And it's only been like a week or so. Definitely not "weeks." Look guys, it's just hard to plan the perfect proposal when you've already come up with not one but two perfect proposal plans that have blown up in your face. I want to marry Mindy but if I don't ask her in the perfect way, she's going to hold that over my head forever. You both know that."

"I'm sure whatever you decide to do, Mindy will find it perfect. She loves you," Jeremy replied, reassuringly.

"Don't listen to him. I was Mindy's confidant when you had your head up your arse after you dumped her. She'll want it to be perfect," Peter added, unreassuringly.

"You don't think I know that? Of course I know it has to be perfect. It's been hard to hold in for the past few weeks. For crying out loud, I almost blurted it out the other night when we were having sex. I'm working on it. Okay?" Danny concluded, standing up from his chair.

"Well don't take too much longer. There's been this weird tension between you and Mindy lately and I don't like it one bit," Peter almost scolded.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Danny left Jeremy's office and headed back to his thinking about how the guys did have a point. He really needed to stop making excuses and propose already. He knew she'd say yes. What was he waiting for?

Danny changed directions and headed for Mindy's office.

"Hey, Min! Wait for me tonight. I made plans for us for after work," Danny said as he leaned against her doorway.

"Umm…okay! Sounds good. What will we be doing?" Mindy looked up perkily.

"Nope. It's a surprise." Danny winked at her and headed back to his office.

They were in the cab on the way to the still mysterious location. Danny could tell that Mindy was getting antsy. He felt the ring practically burning against his leg from where it resided in his pants pocket. Mindy's fingers were intertwined with Danny's and he had the biggest grin on his face. He was finally going to do it. He was pretty damn certain she had no clue. He was also pretty certain that she would approve of the method. Danny was so caught up in his plan that he didn't process the ringing phone until Mindy took her hand back to answer it.

"This is Dr. Mindy Lahiri."

Danny looked over at her. She had her work face on. She looked like she was mentally going over a patient's file. She kept nodding and saying "Mhmm" into the phone.

"Yeah. Okay. Do that. I'll be right there." She hung up the phone and turned toward Danny with an apologetic look on her face. "Danny, that was my patient. Well really it was the hospital. They need me. I'm so sorry! You had something planned."

Danny just nodded. He was probably the one person she had ever dated who would actually understand. "It's fine, Min. Really, it is. I get it. These things happen." He leaned over and kissed her cheek before leaning forward and instructing the cabbie to head to the hospital instead.

"But what about the Empire Sta –"

"Just head to the hospital, sir," Danny interrupted, hoping to cover up what his actual plans were.

"Danny. Were we going to … the Empire State Building?"

"Nope."

"Really? Because that's what it sounded like to me," Mindy prodded.

"You must have something in your ears. Besides, it doesn't matter. Your patient needs you." Danny gave Mindy a meaningful look. He was hoping to convey that he really did understand.

They got to the hospital and Mindy immediately went to check on her patient. Danny waited for her outside the room. After a few minutes she emerged and determinedly set off for the locker room to change into her scrubs. She turned on him and he almost collided with her.

"Danny, I don't want a lecture, I just need to tell you something."

"Uh, okay. What's up?"

"I'm not 100% sure I should be doing this delivery. My arm is still pretty tender from that burn a couple of weeks ago. It doesn't really hurt unless I contort it. Kinda like how I'd have to in order to deliver this baby. Do you think you could do this one for me? I'll do everything except catch it."

Danny could feel the concerned look appear on his face. He gently touched Mindy's arm. She didn't flinch but he could see the sincerity in her face. "Yeah. Of course I will. Maybe while I'm delivering this baby, you should have your arm checked out."

"Maybe. It's really fine. Just a bit tender. It's a burn. These things are common with burns." Then she threw her arms around him. "Thank you, Danny! You're a huge help! Such a lifesaver!" She pulled away and headed into the women's locker room and Danny headed to the men's, flashing back on his intervention earlier.

Mindy was off taking care of her patient's pre-delivery needs while Danny reviewed the patient file in the lounge. It seemed like it should be a pretty easy delivery. Jeremy and Peter walked into the lounge chatting but stopped when they saw Danny.

"Are you serious? I thought you were supposed to be at the Emperor's State Building!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"If you stood that wonderful albeit sometimes insane woman up there a _third_ time, I swear to God that I will –"

"Whoa, Pete. Calm down. She's here too. We never got there. She got called in for a delivery. I think it's for the best though. That was my third try. Don't they say third time's the charm? Well clearly not in my case. It's probably a sign that Mindy and I shouldn't get married."

"God, you sound pitiful. Man up a bit, damn it!" Jeremy said as he plopped down on the couch next to Danny.

"Listen, Danny, I know this sucks and that it feels like you and Mindy aren't supposed to get married, but that's stupid," Peter began. He couldn't finish because Mindy was paging Danny to Delivery.

"Sorry boys. Gotta go. Maybe you can lecture me another time," Danny said as he scooped up the file and left.

"Oh we will! Don't worry!" Peter yelled at Danny's disappearing figure.

Danny showed up in the patient's room and Mindy immediately started reassuring her about him.

"And you're sure he's the best?" The patient asked nervously.

Mindy nodded her head calmly. "Yes. After me, of course," She said winking at Danny.

"And you're sure he's the only one you'd trust to deliver your baby?"

Danny whipped his head over to Mindy. She still just nodded calmly. "Yes. Sarah I promise you that Danny is a fantastic doctor. He will take special care for both you and your baby. If there was anyone I trusted to fill in for me, it would be Danny. Or I guess I should call you Dr. Castellano. Look, this is going to be scary for you no matter who is between your legs catching that baby. Frankly, you're almost at that point where you'd let Doug catch it as long as it got him out safe and sound. Trust me, Sarah. I can be there if you need me. I really don't think you will though. Dr. Castellano, here, is amazing. At like everything. Like almost to the point where it's annoying. Okay?"

Sarah breathed a few deep breaths looking back and forth between Mindy and Danny and Danny and her husband, Doug.

"Okay. Let's do this!"

"Great! Well you are all set and they are going to take you down to delivery and Dr. Castellano will meet you there! And I will see you on the other side," Mindy said cheerfully.

As Mindy stood there making notes, Danny couldn't hold his tongue any longer.

"You said I'm the best? That I'm the only one you'd trust to deliver your baby?"

"Yeah. I wanted to add that you were the only one I'd trust to put the baby in there too, but that felt a bit crass. Also a bit personal," she said, winking at Danny.

They shared a laugh before he pressed on. "You think I'm amazing at everything?"

"Wow someone's fishing for compliments today! Yes, I said those things. I was comforting my patient."

Danny gave her a disbelieving look.

"Okay and yeah, I meant them. But don't get a big head. There are totally things you aren't amazing at. I'll make a list. Don't tempt me. But there are also a lot of things you are amazing at. And I love you. So much. But you knew that." She leaned in for a lingering kiss. Mindy pulled away saying, "Now go deliver that woman's baby. Don't make a liar out of me!"

Danny headed off in the direction of the delivery room promising himself that as soon as he could, instead of a liar, he'd make an honest woman out of her.

Danny burst into the men's locker room and went straight to his locker for the ring. As he fumbled around for it, Morgan approached him cautiously.

"Umm…Dr. C? You okay?"

"I'm fine Morgan," Danny replied. Finally he found the right pocket. Pulling the ring box out he yelled, "Aha!"

Jeremy looked over from his conversation with Peter and the two of them approached Danny in the same cautious manner. Danny looked up at the two of them triumphantly.

"I'm gonna do it," Danny informed them.

Jeremy and Peter both gasped. It occurred to Danny how dramatic they had been recently.

"Oh my goodness, you are?" Jeremy started, "It's about damn time!"

"Omg I love this!" Peter exclaimed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Guys, what's going on? Dr. C, what are you about to do? Are you going to take someone out Mafia style? Do you need the three of us as back up? I'm really good at hiding bodies," Morgan stated proudly.

"No we're not taking anyone – wait, what?" Danny interrupted himself, after processing what Morgan let slip.

"Did I say I'm good at hiding bodies? I meant I imagine I would be…" Morgan said trying to backtrack.

"Whatever. I'm wasting time. I'm going now," Danny spoke as he walked toward the door.

Peter and Jeremy followed closely on his heels. Morgan was close on theirs.

"Guys I still don't know what's going onnnn!" Morgan whined.

Jeremy wheeled around and whispered, "Danny's going to propose to Mindy."

Morgan's look of pure glee was all Danny needed to set down some rules.

"Guys, I was kind of planning on doing this alone. So maybe just head back in the locker room?"

"Nope. We'll just watch from the windows. You'll never know we're there," Peter said reassuringly.

"Somehow I doubt that. I don't want to waste any more time. Fine. But don't be obvious, okay?" Danny conceded.

"Yes!" They all cheered together loudly.

"That's obvious."

"Yes." They all whisper cheered together.

Danny left them in the hall and stepped into the doorway of the lounge. Mindy was relaxing on the couch watching something on the television. It was probably one of those trashy reality shows she loved. Danny strode in, grabbed the remote, and turned it off. Mindy started to object but Danny sat down close to her on the couch.

"Sorry, I just wanted your full attention," he said quietly.

"Oh no. Did something go wrong with the delivery?" Mindy asked sounding a bit scared.

"No. It went perfectly. She's resting comfortably. There's just something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Okay…"

"This is like the fourth variation I've had of this speech in my head. Odds are I may gloss over some stuff but here's the gist of it. Mindy, I used to be this closed off jerk. I was in a really bad place and the first thing that truly started to bring me out of it was your friendship. You worked your way into my life and wouldn't leave. And we both know I tried to make you leave. You got it in your head that we should be friends and then we were whether I wanted to be or not. Somehow the things that used to bother me, about life, about you, they just didn't anymore. It was actually in this very room where I was forced to consider what my life would be like without you, and I didn't like it. Suddenly before I knew it, you were the person I went to about everything. And when you were upset, subconsciously it was my mission to make you happy again so that I could feel better too. I could see myself becoming this more whole person under your influence. You became this force in my life that I couldn't understand and I couldn't live without. I couldn't stop loving you even if I tried." Danny paused to swallow back the building tears and brush the ones falling down her cheeks. "You know you're right for someone when they force you to be the best version of yourself. That's how I know we're right for each other, Mindy." They both laughed. Danny moved off the couch and down on one knee in front of her. He pulled out the ring box and opened it, holding it out to her. "Mindy Lahiri…will you marry me?"

Mindy was too choked up to speak. She started nodding her head excitedly. Finally she spoke past the huge lump in her throat. "Yes! Oh my God, of course!" Danny slid the ring on her finger before they crashed together in a passionate kiss. They broke apart at the sound of someone banging against the glass. They both whipped around to see their friends cheering from the other side of the wall. Morgan had tears streaming down his face. Danny and Mindy waved them all in. They ran in excitedly, congratulating the couple.

"My God it was about time. I didn't know how many more times Danny was going to choke before he finally gave in and just did it," Jeremy said.

"Choke?" Mindy asked confusedly. She moved her eyes back and forth at nothing, as if putting the pieces together. She looked down at Danny, "The fancy restaurant with the Baked Alaska incident?"

"That would be the first time," Danny admitted.

"The picnic that Casey ruined?"

"That would be the second time. And the interrupted cab ride was on the way to the third time," Danny said as he hung his head low.

Mindy reached out and touched his face. "Oh my God, now everything makes sense. You've been acting so weird lately! I thought you were dying or something and didn't know how to tell me. This is so much better!"

"You went to him dying before you went to him breaking up with you? That's where we went," Peter added.

"Have I told you what a great friend you are, Peter?" Mindy asked sarcastically.

"I can't believe that two of my favorite people in the entire world are getting married!" Morgan sobbed out, "Oh and also…Dibs on best man!"

Jeremy and Peter immediately started fighting with him. They were all bickering so loudly that none of their actual words could be heard over the others'. Danny and Mindy turned to each other.

"Why don't we go check on our patient, Dr. Castellano?" Mindy said, taking Danny's hand in hers.

"That sounds like a good plan, Future Dr. Lahiri-Castellano. You know, if you want to change to that. I'm not assuming anything…"

"We'll talk," Mindy said, chuckling as she pecked him on the cheek. They stood up and left the lounge. They were barely out of the room before Mindy turned on Danny and pressed him into the wall and started kissing him again. She broke away and he looked at her in a daze. She laid a few light pecks on his lips before looking up at him.

"I love you, Danny Castellano."

"I love you, Mindy Lahiri. Sorry it wasn't the Empire State Building."

Mindy shook her head and said, "You know a wise person once said to me that the most romantic place in the world, you don't know it's going to be romantic ahead of time. It could be anywhere." They shared a laugh over the memory. "Besides, we already had our super romantic moment at the Empire State Building." They started to walk toward their patient's room. As they were heading down the stairs hand in hand, Mindy said, "You know I'm gonna go totally wedding crazy right?"

"Do what you want. I just had to get through the proposal."

"Seriously? You might end up eating those words, Castellano."

"I mean…within reason, Min."

"Do you know me? I can find a reason for literally anything Danny."

"Our wedding is going to be insane, isn't it?" Danny said with a slight tone of fear.

Mindy stopped him and put her arms around his neck. He wrapped her in closer as she started to speak, "I mean yeah, it probably will be. But then we got the insanity out early. Then we can have a calm and happy marriage."

Danny leaned in and kissed her quickly. He replied, smiling, "You know what? I think I like the sound of that."


End file.
